MotoGP man Rea back to Superbike ‘day job’

5 September 2012

Having spent time between rounds getting acquainted with the Repsol Honda RC213V machine he will race at San Marino Grand Prix next week, Jonathan Rea will be back on his familiar Honda CBR1000RR for the latest round of the World Superbike Championship at the Nurburgring.

The Ulsterman has been hitting the headlines recently after being unveiled as the temporary replacement for the injured Casey Stoner at the factory Honda MotoGP team, Rea set to make his much anticipated debut at Misano.

Getting the chance to sample the bike at Brno and Motorland Aragon over the last 10 days, Rea will now revert back to his Fireblade at the Nurburgring ahead of his MotoGP appearance with a view to continuing the progress shown last time out at the Moscow Raceway.

I've certainly got a tough few weeks coming up, competing in two world championships, but I've enjoyed everything so far – it's going to be an incredible experience,” he said. “I'm really looking forward to this Nurburgring weekend – I like the circuit and I've had some success there in the past. We struggled a little at Brno and Silverstone, but managed to sort a few things for the last round in Russia.

“Although the results didn't show it, I was much happier with the feel of the bike and we were able to cure a problem with engine braking which had almost crept up on us unnoticed. I'm excited to see how the CBR performs at the Nurburgring and to see if we can maintain the pace that we ended up showing in Moscow.

“We're going into the last three rounds of the season now and the team is working just as hard as they were at the beginning of the year, coming up with new things to try. Hopefully, that will allow us to consolidate and even improve our championship position in the last few races.”